You’ve designed your layout and the plan
calls for a bridge. There are various options available.. A ready built item
from the likes of Hornby, a kit from Wills, Ratio, Peco, or one of the
continental manufacturers.. Or alternatively you could scratch build your
own making it fit exactly according to your own needs.

Everyone has their favourite idea of how to
go about achieving what they need, but as a quick reference guide here are
various examples of the real thing to offer you ideas and inspiration.

First off some bridges
that span over railway lines

often a useful scenic break on many a model
railway.

Click the images for larger pictures.

Girder
bridge at Newport taken by Pete M

A foot
crossing over the railway taken at Llangollen Station. Note the dirty
markings made by years of steam locomotives running underneath – a good
thing to add for realism.

The Crescent Bridge pictured here is
situated just south of Peterborough station on the east coast mainline.
The Bridge is of steel and rivet construction with the main span having
this unusual arched (crescent) shape. Opened in 1913, the bridge
replaced a set of two level crossings, which were very dangerous, and in
1880 resulted in the death of a pedestrian. The Bridge has given the
cities citizen’s safe passage over a very busy railway line.

Something slightly different. A small road bridge over the Welsh
Highland Railway at Waunfawr Station.

Next we move onto bridges
that the railways run on.

Again there are a very wide variety of
options available for the modeller to take inspiration and design tips from.

Dent Head Viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle line.

A lovely
looking bridge near Corfe Castle on the Swanage Railway.

A fairly
substantial single arch brick bridge near Washingborough in
Lincolnshire.

A modern
steel fabricated bridge near Boughton in Nottinghamshire.

An
example of an old style plate girder bridge at Boughton in
Nottinghamshire.

And now for something completely different…

How about a viaduct carrying a road under a
viaduct carrying a railway?

This
fantastic example of Victorian engineering is at Berwyn on the
Llangollen Railway in Wales.

This page is by no means intended as a
definitive guide to all of the dozens of different types of bridges out there in
the world of railways, more as a kick start to the research process.